GEOLOGY
In 1899, oil was first discovered here at the Kern River Oil Field. As the nation's fifth-largest oil field, it pumps out nearly 70,000 barrels every day. The Chevron Corporation owns the massive field, consisting of 9,183 active wells. Yet the oil field also produces water, in fact 10 times more water than it does oil (760,000 barrels a day). Every day, millions of gallons of that water are sold to local farmers to aid in the irrigation of their crops.
So how is there more water than oil?
The water is pumped out of the same underground rock that contains oil, making it very salty. Before it can be distributed for watering crops, it is separated form the oil and mixed with other water to reduce its salinity.
The water produced by the oil field eventually flows into a mixing pond, right, where it is blended with other sources to make it suitable for irrigation.
It turns out that the formation from which the oil is held and drilled from is also full of briny, brackish (salty) water, roughly 10 times more than oil. After the oil is separated, Chevron uses about a quarter of it to enhance oil production, turning the water right around and injecting it back into the rock formation to boost oil flow. This process is known as steam injection, which is slightly different from hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing is a process which water is pumped at high pressures into the rock formation, cracking it and creating gaps to more freely allow oil to flow up to the wells. The name of the formation is called the Kern River Formation, it is the youngest layer in these parts. It is an estimated 4-6 million years old. This is where the oil and water is drilled from. The wells produce so much water, in fact, that a saying has been adapted about major California oil fileds: "they’re actually water companies that get oil as a byproduct."
Logging as a find:
This earthcache takes you into the Kern River Oil Field, with wells that you can see. Send a note with the name of this earthcache and the following answers:
1) Look to a functioning well. Does it look like there is any evidence of water coming out of it?
2) Why or why not?
3) Judging that the water is extracted from the rock formation already existing, was this area most likely under water an estimated 4 million years ago? How did you reach that conclusion?
Sources:
1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kern_River_Oil_Field
2) http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/08/us/california-drought-chevron-oil-field-water-irrigation.html?_r=0
3) http://blogs.kqed.org/science/audio/california-farmers-look-to-oil-industry-for-water/
4) http://www.theoildrum.com/node/5023
5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_fracturing
6) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miocene